Board game apparatus

ABSTRACT

A game construction including a playing board adapted to rest on a supporting surface, a plurality of semi-spherical upwardly facing openings disposed in parallel rows in said board for receiving a like plurality of spherical elements. The spherical elements have the surface of one semi-spherical portion of one color or indicia and the surface of the opposite spherical portion of a second color or indicia. The use of the foregoing construction involves the steps of positioning all of the playing elements with their first color facing upwardly, taking alternate moves by two players, each move consisting of reversing the exposure of a selective number of consecutive playing elements in a vertical or in a horizontal row to expose its second color, continuing the moves until the last playing element remains with its first color exposed, and the player reversing the last element being declared the loser.

United States Patent [191 Chodorov et al.

[4 1 July 3,1973

[ BOARD GAME APPARATUS 22 Filed: May 19, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 144,745

[52] US. Cl 273/130 R, 273/136 F [51] Int. Cl. A63f 3/00 [58] Field of Search 273/130, 136, 135

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 7/1922 Abele 273/130 R 2/1969 Riva 273/135 AD FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS Switzerland 273/136 F Primary ExaminerDelbert B. Lowe Att0rney-Robert L. Baechtold [5 7] 7 ABSTRACT A game construction including a playing board adapted to rest on a supporting surface, a plurality of semispherical upwardly facing openings disposed in parallel rows in said board for receiving a like plurality of spherical elements. The spherical elements have the surface of one semi-spherical portion of one color or indicia and the surface of the opposite spherical portion of a second color or indicia. The use of the foregoing construction involves the steps of positioning all of the playing elements with their first color facing up wardly, taking alternate moves by two players, each move consisting of reversing the exposure of a selective number of consecutive playing elements in a vertical or in a horizontal row to expose its second color, continuing the moves until the last playing element remains with its first color exposed, and the player reversing the last element being declared the loser.

1 Claim, 4 Drawing Figures BOARD GAME APPARATUS This invention relates generally to game constructions and more particularly to a game construction wherein a playing board is adapted to rest on a supporting surface and spherical playing elements are maneuvered in openings in the upper surface of said board.

While many different types of games of this character have been used with reasonable success heretofore, our contribution to the art is a new and improved game which is an improvement over such prior art, as will become apparent as the description proceeds. Related patents in this field include U.S. Pat. No. 2,967,714 issued Jan. 10, 1961, and US. Pat.No. 3,113,778 issued Dec. 10, 1963.

A game constructed according to the concept of our invention is particularly adapted for use by players of all ages. It is compact and may readily be played while traveling in motor vehicles or the like, for example.

In order to accomplish the desired result, this invention provides a new and improved game construction characterized by a playing board adapted to rest on a supporting surface. A plurality of semi-spherical upwardly facing openings are provided in the board which are disposed in parallel horizontal and vertical rows. A like plurality of spherical elements are positionable in the openings and each of the elements has a first color on the surface of one semi-spherical portion and a second color on the surface of the other spherical portion. The spherical elements are manually reversible to expose either their first color or their second color.

Another form of the invention comprises a method of playinga game with the foregoing game construction comprising the steps of positioning all of the playing elements with their first color facing upwardly, and taking alternate moves by two players. Each move consists of reversing the exposure color of one or more consecutive playing elements in a horizontal or in a vertical, but not in a diagonal row. The moves continue until the last playing element remains to be reversed. The player who must reverse the last playing element is the loser.

There has thus been outlined rather broadly the more important features of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are, of course, additional features of the invention that will be described more fully hereinafter. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception on which this disclosure is based may readily be utilized as the basis for the designing of other structures for carrying out the several purposes of the invention. It is important, therefore, that this disclosure be regarded as including such equivalent constructions as do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention.

One embodiment of the invention has been chosen for purposes of illustration and description, and is shown in the accompanying drawings, forming a part of the specification, wherein:

'FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a game device incorporating the novel features of the present invention and showing the spherical playing elements mounted in semi-spherical upwardly facing openings in the playing board;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation of the game device of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the same device; and

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the game device similar to FIG. 1, but showing a portion of the spherical playing elements exposing their second color or indicia.

In the embodiment of the invention illustrated, a playing board is adapted to rest on a supporting surface. The playing board is a square prism having an upper surface which is a square with sides which are of the order of about 5 inches in length. The thickness or depth of the board is of the order of about 1 14 inches. The playing board may be fabricated from any suitable material such as Lucite, for example. Sixteen semispherical upwardly facing openings 12 are provided in the upper surface of the playing board 10. These openings are disposed in four substantially equally-spaced horizontal rows and four substantially equally-spaced vertical rows.

Sixteen spherical playing elements or balls 14 having a diameter of the order of about inches are provided for positioning in said openings 12. As best seen in FIG. 4, each of the playing elements has a first color or indicia 16 on the surface of one semi-spherical portion and a second color or indicia 18 on the opposite semispherical portion so that one or the other color may be exposed, as desired, by manually rotating the element without the necessity of removing it from its opening in the playing board.

A method of playing the game comprises the steps of positioning all of the playing elements in the openings in the playing board with their first colors facing upwardly. Normally, two players participate and take alternate moves. A move consists of reversing one, two, three or four consecutive balls in a horizontal or vertical row to expose their second colors, respectively. That is, any number of consecutive balls in a horizontal or vertical row, but not in a diagonal row, may be moved, or rotated, simultaneously. The moves continue until the last ball having the first color exposed remains on the playing board. The player who must reverse the last ball is the loser. It will be appreciated that at the end of the game all of the balls will have been reversed so that their second color is exposed. The game may now be played in the same manner by progressively reversing the balls so that the first colors become exposed.

It will thus be seen that the present invention does indeed provide an improved game construction which is superior in simplicity and economy and provides an interesting competitive game for the participants.

Although a particular embodiment of the invention is herein disclosed for purposes of explanation, various modifications thereof, after study of the specification, will be apparent to those skilled in the art to which the invention pertains.

What is claimed and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. A game construction comprising a playing board adapted to rest on a supporting surface, a plurality of semi-spherical upwardly facing openings in said board disposed in parallel, four equally spaced vertical rows and four equally spaced horizontal rows of openings in said board, said playing board being a square prism having a square upper surface with the length of the sides being of the order of aboutS inches and the thickness being of the order of about l 54 inches, a plurality of like spherical playing elements positioned in said openings, each of said spherical playing elements having a diameter of the order of about 36 inch, each of said elements having a first indicia on the surface of playing elements are mounted in said openings in the one semi-spherical portion and having a second indicia playing board by manual manipulation of the playing on the surface of the opposite semi-spherical portion, elements, respectively.

whereby selective indicia may be exposed when said 

1. A game construction comprising a playing board adapted to rest on a supporting surface, a plurality of semi-spherical upwardly facing openings in said board disposed in parallel, four equally spaced vertical rows and four equally spaced horizontal rows of openings in said board, said playing board Being a square prism having a square upper surface with the length of the sides being of the order of about 5 inches and the thickness being of the order of about 1 1/4 inches, a plurality of like spherical playing elements positioned in said openings, each of said spherical playing elements having a diameter of the order of about 3/4 inch, each of said elements having a first indicia on the surface of one semi-spherical portion and having a second indicia on the surface of the opposite semi-spherical portion, whereby selective indicia may be exposed when said playing elements are mounted in said openings in the playing board by manual manipulation of the playing elements, respectively. 